On March 2, the spokesperson of the National Health Commission said at a press conference, “The rapid escalation of the Wuhan epidemic is under control. In addition to Wuhan, the regional outbreak in other places in Hubei Province is also under control.”
On March 3, the Hubei Provincial government held a press conference on the status of the control of the province’s epidemic. Yang Yunyan, the Deputy Hubei Governor, said, “The situation of the epidemic in Hubei is still very severe. In the whole province, over 20,000 patients are still in the hospital and 6,000 patients are in a severe or critical condition. The risk of a large infection is still not under fundamental control.”
[Editor’s Note: Another political controversy was that, on February 28, Ma Xiaowei, Director of National Health Commission, praised Wuhan Mayor Zhou Xianwang despite the fact that Zhou had openly challenged the Chinese Communist Party Central Leadership by stating that, until January 20, he was not “authorized” to release information to the pubic and take action. Zhou also claimed that he made the decision to lock down Wuhan, while Xi Jinping was also said to be the person who made that decision. (See Chinascope posting: Leadership: A Political Controversy: Head of National Health Commission Praised Wuhan Mayor)Ying Yong, Xi’s loyalist and the newly appointed Hubei Provincial Party Secretary, is in charge of Hubei’s epidemic control.]
Related postings on Chinascope:
- Leadership: A Political Controversy: Head of National Health Commission Praised Wuhan Mayor
- Leadership: Ding Xiangyang: Xi Jinping Ordered Wuhan Lockdown
- Leadership: Wuhan Municipal Website Defended Its Mayor
- Leadership: Wuhan Mayor Not “Authorized” to Release Epidemic Information to the Public Before
1. Excerpt in Chinese:
3月2日在国务院联防联控机制新闻发布会上，国家卫生健康委新闻发言人米锋说，全国新增确诊病例数和新增疑似病例数，近2周总体呈下降趋势。新增出院病例数呈持续波动上升，近几日在3000例上下波动。武汉疫情快速上升态势得到控制，湖北除武汉外，局部暴发的态势也得到控制，湖北以外省份疫情形势积极向好。下一步要从统筹推进疫情防控和经济社会发展出发，紧紧围绕社区防控和医疗救治两个重点，由全面防控向群专结合、精准防控转变。
Source: Xinhua, March 2, 2020
http://www.xinhuanet.com/politics/2020-03/02/c_1125651408.htm
2. Excerpt in Chinese:
3月3日，湖北省召开新型冠状病毒感染的肺炎疫情防控工作例行新闻发布会，介绍全省疫情医疗救治工作情况。
湖北省人民政府副省长杨云彦介绍，湖北的疫情形势依然严峻复杂，全省还有2万多名患者在院救治，6000多名重症、危重症患者仍需加大救治力度；增量风险仍然没有得到根本控制。
Source: People’s Daily, March 4, 2020
http://health.people.com.cn/n1/2020/0304/c14739-31615929.html